Performance audit spotlights excess capacity at state-funded system used by some public TV stations
COLUMBUS — Fewer than half of the public television stations in Ohio and the channels they operate are using a state-funded system to broadcast their programming, and it may be time to consider budget or capacity changes, a recent state review determined.
As things stand, the system “currently operates with excess capacity and maintains equipment and hardware that is unnecessary” and has not consistently tracked inventory and usage in managing equipment replacement plans, auditors determined.
The performance audit of the Broadcast Educational Media Commission (BEMC), released this week, was conducted by the Auditor of State’s Ohio Performance Team, which reviews the operations of public agencies and programs and offers recommendations for improvements.
Copies of the full report are available online at ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/search.aspx.
BEMC is a 65-year-old independent state agency that distributes state funds, as allocated by the legislature, to public television and radio stations; supports the operations of the Ohio Channel; and operates the Joint Master Control system, the behind-the-scenes technology backbone used in broadcasting.
BEMC received $10.6 million in state general revenue funds in fiscal year 2024. It distributed $6.5 million of that total to public media entities and used $4.1 million for commission operations, mostly related to the Joint Master Control system. BEMC also received about $1 million in capital funding in each of the past three biennia for technology for the system.
As a shared service, the Joint Master Control allows participating stations to reduce their operational costs, thus devoting more of their funding to programming.
According to Tuesday’s performance audit, BEMC’s system “appears to be the largest state-run joint master control system in the country, with most states not offering a (Joint Master Control) model option for public television stations.”
The system was built to provide services to all eight Ohio public media entities and the 42 stations they operated at the time. Today, only three public media entities and 21 channels have opted to use the system. The rest operate their own systems.
The Auditor of State’s Ohio Performance Team determined, “BEMC has not adjusted to this reality and therefore has for several years been purchasing equipment that is unnecessary for its operational needs. In addition, the commission’s overall inventory data is incomplete, which makes it difficult to properly plan for future purchasing needs or for oversight entities to provides checks and balances against agency requests.”
Among other recommendations, the performance audit urges the BEMC to set a deadline for public television stations to rejoin the Joint Master Control system, then reduce the system’s capacity to serve the stations that choose to participate.
BEMC also should improve its inventory management, gaining an accurate accounting of the equipment it owns. Existing inventories are incomplete, and full usage data is not tracked.
“Having the useful life of all items aggregated in one location would allow BEMC to systematically plan for what items will need to be replaced and mitigate the chance of an item’s upcoming expiration going unnoticed,” auditors wrote.
Additionally, the state legislature should consider whether continuing the operation of the Joint Master Control system as is. Auditors noted, lawmakers “should consider whether the commission structure is the most effective and responsive governance model or whether the operations of the Joint Master Control could be absorbed by another state agency, which could potentially reduce BEMC’s need for standalone finance, procurement, or IT services.”